​If there is one thing we do know about small business owners, it is that they are extremely busy and almost always hustling. Although many small business owners identify search engine optimization (SEO) as a vital marketing strategy, the majority lack the skills or resources to implement everything that is required to get their website on top of the search results where they can be found. At the very same time, most small businesses have limited budgets for digital marketing.

Having a good-looking website is great but not very useful if nobody finds it. Although SEO can be a daunting task, small business owners should pay attention to the following basic guidelines and concepts.

​The primary reason small business owners struggle with SEO is that their website is not designed with Google in mind. Sure, your website may look good, but if it is not properly structured, very few people will find it. It is critical to develop your website with a strong website structure so that search engines can correctly scan and analyze your web pages.

​The next most critical factor in developing a successful small business website is keyword research and usage. The better your small company website ranks for important search terms related to your business, the more it will be found by potential customers looking for the goods and services you offer. Keep it simple and focus on a limited number of keywords per page. Create additional pages if needed.

​The telephone books are long gone but these days, online business directories offer similar services. There are hundreds of online business directories, and some are more important than others. Submitting your website to multiple online business directories is time consuming but this service can be automated. By far, the most important business directory is Google My Business (GMB). Setting up a Google My Business profile is straightforward and will significantly help your business to be found on the internet, even if you do not have a website.

​Alco Web Design provides small business website design and SEO services for a professional and cost-effective presence on the web. We are a small business and understand the needs of small business owners. We provide personalized and dedicated services, and you ALWAYS deal directly with the owner.

For more information or help with small business SEO best practices, keywords selection, and online business directories, please contact us at Alco Web Design LLC and we will get back to you promptly.

​In the old days of telephone books, the “white pages” were used to list the phone number of every person living in an area and the “yellow pages” were used to list the businesses in that area. Those books were distributed to every household and used constantly for personal and business needs. The yellow pages were a powerful way to reach local customers and savvy business owners would make sure their business would be listed.

The telephone books are long gone but online business directories now offer the same services. There are hundreds of those online business directories. Some are more important than others and most would list your business for free.

Submitting your business information to the business directories is not difficult and does not require special skills or black magic. But finding those directories and submitting the same information multiple times is frankly quite painful. We work with a third-party company that specializes in those services. Please contact us if you need any help submitting your business to the business directories.

By far, the most important business directories are Google and Microsoft and creating your business listing with those companies is of the utmost importance. For that reason, we recommend business owners to manually submit their business to those directories. Here is how to do it and how to set somebody up as your account manager once your account is active. Please contact us if you need help managing your Google My Business or Bing Places accounts.

Google (Google my Business or GMB)
1. Setup a Google account for your business (How to setup a Google account)
2. Manage your GMB account (How to manage a GMB account)
3. Optional: Allow somebody to manage your GMB account (How to add manager to GMB account)

Microsoft (Bing Places)
1. Setup a Bing Places account for your business (How to create a Microsoft Account)
2. Manage your Bing Places account (How to add or claim a Bing Places business listing)
3. Optional: Allow somebody to manage your Bing Places account (How to add manager to Bing Places business account)

​For more information about how you can take advantage of the online business directories to promote your small business, please contact us Alco Web Design LLC and we will get back to you promptly.

Staying In-Sync with Customer Needs

While consumer focus may have changed a little bit, there is still a requirement for various services and products. This is why it is even more important today than before to focus on updating your website.

While this will give you some amount of business today, it will also help you come out ahead of the game down the track. Most businesses indeed have experienced some amount of downtime on regularly scheduled programming at the moment. However, you can make a shift in your marketing strategy, and your website is one of its most essential aspects.

It is in crucial to understand that just building a website and forgetting it does not work. It needs to provide value to your users in a meaningful and easy way. You need to maintain the website and update it so that it is in line with the current needs of the customers.

Enhance Your Online Presence

The need of the hour today is to ensure that you are providing even more value to your customers and understanding their needs during the pandemic. Due to social distancing norms and trends in place, an increasing number of people are staying at home.

It also means that they have more time to surf various websites and are relying on the internet to shop online, more than ever before. Even people that would typically head to brick and mortar stores are now choosing to shop online, and this trend is not going to change anytime soon.

As a smart marketer, you need to take this opportunity to update your website and bring it up to the mark so that it can meet these latest requirements. If you do not have a website at all, consider investing in one so that you have a presence in the online space where a large number of customers now are.

Keep Your Website Updated
 
If you already have a website, there are various aspects you need to focus on, including:

• Make sure your website has detailed information about all the services or products that you offer.
• Ensure that it is functioning well and that it loads quickly.
• The website needs to be professional, inviting, and easy-to-use.
• Visitors should feel that they can trust you, and it will encourage them to do business with you.
• Make sure your website is secure if you expect customers to trust it with their credit card information.
• A mobile-friendly website is crucial in this day and age, where a large number of people are accessing the internet via mobile devices.
• It is also necessary to have the right on-page SEO.
• Update your business directory information.

For more information about how you can design a website that caters to customers’ needs today, contact Alco Web Design LLC. The number to call is 920 850-4642. You can also fill in this contact us form and we will get back to you promptly.

​During the Corona crisis, many small business owners were forced to improve their remote order taking and delivery capabilities. In time, the market will recover, but the world has changed. More than ever, a strong online presence is the only way to move forward for many small business owners. Is your website up to the challenge?

Below are multiple recommendations small business owners should consider to increase their remote sales now, and when the economy finally recovers. Many of those recommendations are easy and free to implement. If money is tight, start with the low-cost options first.

By Alain Houle, Alco Web Design LLC

Make sure your website content is up to date. The Corona crisis might have forced you to modify the products and services you offer, delivery methods, operating hours, etc. Up to date content will let your visitors know that you are open for business and can be trusted.

• Your PRODUCTS & SERVICES pages should provide detailed information about each product and service you offer, the benefits to your customers, and why potential customers should do business with your company vs your competitors. In addition to inform your visitors, the natural presence of your keywords and search terms on those pages will increase your Google rankings and traffic. These are the most important pages of your website.
• Your ABOUT US page should convince your visitors that you know what you do, are trustworthy, and bring value. Be personal, be human, be humble, but don’t be bashful. Including local references about your company and your customers helps Google understand your area of operation. Include your name, address, picture. Don’t hesitate to talk about the community activities you are involved with, honors you received, your expertise, your company, and what you bring to the table.
• Your HOME page should summarize the products and services you offer, who are your typical customers, and what kind of company you are. Save time by reusing material from your ABOUT US and PRODUCTS & SERVICES pages.
• Your TESTIMONIALS, GUARANTEE, and FAQ pages should support the message of expertise, honesty, and value that will convince visitors to contact you. Take the opportunity to display your expertise and add local content while answering common questions from your potential customers.
• Your CONTACT US page should let your visitors know your operating hours, where your business is located, and how to contact you.
• Your BLOG is an easy way to periodically get in touch with potential customers and convince them to come back to your website. You offer new products or services? You expanded your territory? You have new staff? Let the world know about what is new and exciting about your small business. Search engines love fresh content and blogging is an easy way to remind Google that your small business is alive and kicking.
• Websites with original content rank higher on the Google search results. Do not copy from your competitors and come up with your own text so you do better than they do.
• Coming up with the right text for your web pages is easier said than done. Most small business owners I work with are better at running their business than at writing about it. Record yourself when telling a friend or relative about your business. Work with your spouse, kids, friends, business partners and take advantage of their writing skills.
• Typos and spelling mistakes immediately label you as sloppy and not worthy to do business with. Make sure everything is perfect before going live.

Having a website is pointless if nobody finds it. SEO is the art of bringing your website on top of the Google search results, so it can easily be found by potential customers.

• On-page SEO is the art of optimizing your web pages, so they are easy to understand and categorize by Google. It involves taking advantage of the invisible portions of your web pages with your keywords and search terms. It also involves making sure your keywords and search terms are present in the textual content of your web pages. Here is a little-known secret: Website content is the most critical step of a successful SEO effort.
• Off-page SEO are promotional activities designed to tell the world about an existing website and have little to do with the website itself. Examples of those activities are getting your business listed by internet directories, getting customer reviews, creating YouTube videos, participating in social medias, as well as purchasing online and conventional ads on TV, radio, and newspapers.

Many small businesses are running slow right now. When is the last time you had time to think? Take advantage of this idle time to review your business priorities, your website, and your online marketing strategies so your business is stronger than ever when the market reopens. Alco Web Design specializes in small business website design and SEO. Don’t hesitate to contact us, we are always happy to help.

​There are many websites on the internet, and they all compete against each other. The following steps will help convince Google that your website deserves to be on top of the search results.

​By Alain Houle, Alco Web Design LLC

​Google is the most popular search engines because of its ability to return relevant search results. On-page SEO is the art of telling Google what your website is all about. Google does not know how to read but it knows how to count. On-page SEO is all about keywords frequency, consistency, concentration, usage, and placement. All the following ideas will help, but the ones on the top of the list usually bring a bigger bang for your buck. For each page of your website:

​Keywords or search terms are used to quickly describe the main products, services, or ideas being promoted by a web page. To avoid confusing Google, there should be no more than one or two keywords per page. If needed, create multiple web pages to segregate products, services, or ideas.

Google heavily relies on the textual content of your pages to figure out what they are all about. Each keyword should come naturally 2-5 times through the text of the page and be present on top and at the bottom. Paragraphs or sections of the page not containing your keywords dilute your keywords concentration and should be avoided.

Google does not like cheaters and long gone are the days where webmasters were able to stuff keywords incomprehensibly through the text of the pages. Web pages should be informational, original, contain at least 500 words, and be written primarily for the people reading them. Don’t be a copycat and come up with your own original content to give your web page a chance to stand out of the crowd.

Page content is the most important but also the most overlooked step of Google optimization. Don’t make it an afterthought and get professional help if needed.

​The Meta tag title is the most important Meta tag and is only visible on the Google search results. It is used to quickly tell Google and your potential visitors about the content of your page so they decide to visit your website. Be bold, be convincing, be inviting, a bit like a news headline. Your Meta tag title should contain your most important keyword(s). Make a good use of each available characters and avoid diluting your keywords concentration with common words such as “product, solution” and stop words such as “the, of, at” etc. Use different Meta tag titles for each pages of your website. Including a geographic reference will help your page to rank higher on the local search results, where your target visitors are likely located.

​The Meta tag description is very similar to the Meta tag title, but the additional characters give you opportunities to provide more details about your web page. The Meta tag description is only visible on the Google search results.  It is used to tell Google and your potential visitors about the content of your page and should contain your most important keyword(s). It is a bit like a short summary of a news article. Use different a Meta tag description for each pages of your website.

​The H1 Heading is the most important visible portion of your web page. Google sees is as the main title of the page and it should contain your most important keyword(s). The H1 Heading and the Meta tag title are very similar in concept and should be very similar. There is only one H1 Heading per page.

​The page name is used by Google as a potential indicator of the page content and should contain your most important keyword(s) where it makes sense. This does not apply to your home page that is always called “index”.  Use different page name for each pages of your website.

​Keywords: web design, website design, small business
Meta Tag Title: Website Design - Alco Web Design - Appleton, WI
Meta Tag Description: Small business website design by Alco Web Design in Appleton, WI. We believe in creating impactful websites that will add value to your small business.
H1 Heading: Alco Web Design: Small Business Website Design Company
Page name: small-business-website-design-services.html

​Creating a new website is very exciting but pretty useless if nobody finds it. On-page SEO is the cornerstone of your website optimization and it will make or break the success of your website. We are there to help, please don’t hesitate to contact us with any On-page SEO question.

Data integrators collect and share business information all over the internet. They are used by the search engines, social media platforms, review sites, and local business directories to identify and validate information about your business. If you let your aggregators listings expire, your business loses its ‘Trusted Status’ and becomes harder to be found on the internet.

​By Alain Houle, Alco Web Design LLC

​Data aggregators are great at disseminating data but they cannot identify inaccurate and outdated information. They sometimes get confused and when this happens it creates a series of problems including duplicate and erroneous business listings that hurt business owners more than they help.

​In the United States, there are four major data integrators (Infogroup, Localeze, Foursquare, and Factual). Taking advantage of the data integrators is a cost-effective way for small business owners to promote their business online. Periodically validating accurate business details is a good practice to take full advantage of the data integrators.

Local sales are very important for most small businesses because many of their sales are made locally. In other words, there is no point for a Wisconsin plumber to advertise in California. Unlike most SEO experts, Alco Web Design specializes in local SEO services for small businesses. Contact us for submitting your website to the data aggregators or for any questions related to your small business website and its SEO.

​Getting your customers to post reviews about your products and services can be one of the most beneficial ways to increase your ranking on Google and boost sales. Many business owners feel that reviews don't do much for their business and focus on other marketing activities.

However, almost 80% of potential customers will look up a company’s website, read its reviews, and check its star rating before making their purchase decision. This fact makes it very important for you to encourage your customers to post reviews after they have purchased your product or service.

By Alain Houle, Alco Web Design LLC

There are three key benefits of customer reviews:

1. You can use these reviews to market your business.
2. Reviews also give you the chance to understand better what is going well and what things you are doing right. Even negative reviews and criticism from customers are an opportunity for you to determine what needs improvement.
3. Customer reviews also significantly boost the visibility of your small business on Google. There is an ever-increasing need to encourage honest and genuine reviews for your products and services, on GMB.

Although you may have various other aspects of your local search and marketing strategy covered, you should never underestimate the power of review data. 

​Google always focuses on delivering the most beneficial & relevant results for all local searches. Not only are they interested in knowing what your business does, but how your customers perceive it. To a great extent, they determine this by the number of reviews you have overall and what your average star rating on GMB is.

Very recently, Google has also updated its online map searches layout to display reviews and ratings very prominently. When it comes to Local SEO rankings, the quantity and quality of reviews become vital ranking factors. Business listings with a higher number of reviews are perceived as more credible than businesses with fewer or poor reviews.

​One of the best ways to maintain control over your reviews and maximize their effect is to encourage customers to post reviews about your business, on your Google+ Local page. This aspect is something you need to prioritize. It's also crucial that you source reviews ethically and efficiently. Here are some ways to do that:

• Offer excellent customer service. Happy and satisfied customers translate to better reviews and ratings.
• Set a strategy in place so that customers feel encouraged to post reviews; don’t just wait for things to happen.
• You can start with requesting family and friends that use your products or services, to post their reviews.
• Following a purchase, make it a point to ask new and existing customers to write reviews.
• Make it very easy for your customers to leave reviews. You can include a link on your website that leads them to your GMB page.

It’s never a good idea to solicit reviews by offering incentives and promotions. If this comes to light, it can affect your ranking on Google. For more information about how you can ethically build your presence on GMB with positive customer reviews, contact us Alco Web Design; we will respond promptly.

For Google, citations are badges of merit used to determine the credibility of a website. Businesses with several quality citations often rank very high on the search engines result page. Citations are one of the most important ranking factors for local search results.

There are hundreds of citations to consider. Some top tier generic citations such as Bing, Google and Foursquare are a must for all businesses. Some citations are specialized for dentists, attorneys, web designers etc. Not all citations are equal but, as a general rule, the more quality citations you have the better it is for your business.

• Top US free citations sites
• Top local citations by business category​

​Many citations directories will list your business for free but manual submitting is a tedious and time-consuming process. Most small business owners prefer to purchase their citations through a citation building service provider such as Alco Web Design. Contact us now, we can help.

​Many companies offer free website analysis but most of them simply compile stats about your website and try to sell you services that you don’t need. Others will simply make money by selling your personal information to telemarketers or peddlers. Nothing is free in life and you usually get what you pay for.

​Local sales are very important for most small businesses because their sales are usually made locally. In other words, there is no point for a Wisconsin plumber to advertise in California or China. Unlike most SEO experts, Alco Web Design specializes in local SEO services. Our website audit will evaluate many aspects of your website including:

​The purpose of your website is to get visitors and convince them to call, email, or walk-in to your business place. If you are disappointed with the performance of your existing website, you should consider a comprehensive website audit to understand what is going on with your website.

At Alco Web Design, our analysis and recommendations are manually compiled by a competent SEO expert and presented in a language that you can understand. We charge you an honest price for a thorough website analysis and there are no strings attached. This guarantees that we stay honest and keep YOUR interests in mind.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions or concerns about the performance of your website. We are not always around the phone, fill up the contact us form and we will get back to you promptly.

​How does Google Mobile-First Indexing affect my small business website?
Google is the king of the search engines and they do not have any intention to lose their leadership position. This means that this transition to Mobile-First Indexing will be progressive and coordinated. Google already announced that the transition will be done by waves with the websites that follow the best mobile practices going first. Website owners will be notified via email when their website gets migrated.

What if I do not have a mobile website?
According to Google, they will continue to have one single index for serving search results. Historically, the desktop version was indexed, but increasingly, the mobile version will be used. If you only have desktop content, your website will continue to be indexed, at least for now…

Are non-mobile compliant websites being penalized?
According to Google, content gathered by Mobile-First Indexing has no ranking advantage over mobile content that’s not yet gathered this way or desktop content, at least for now…

What should I do next?
For some time, Google has been encouraging webmasters to make their content mobile-friendly. The Google Mobile-First Indexing initiative is a strong signal that the future of the web is mobile.

In addition to your mobile visitors that could use a website that displays well and is easy to use on a wide variety of screen sizes, Google is about ready to slap your fingers for not having a mobile compliant website. 

At Alco Web Design, we have the expertise to create or analyze a mobile version of your website. For help or more information, call us at (920) 850-4642 or fill in this contact us form, we would be happy to help. 

BLOG POST CONTENT
​You heard it before, content is king. There is not point to write a blog post that nobody wants to read.

• Keep things simple: Most small business blog posts are 400-500 characters in length. Think SEO and make sure your most important keyword comes at least 3 times throughout the write up.
• Take it easy on the sales pitch: The primary objective of your blog post is to connect with potential customers, not to make a sale. Connect, establish relationship, demonstrate expertise, build trust, open the door. If you do a good job, the sale will come later.
• Use small paragraphs and short sentences: People don’t read on the internet, they skim. Use 5th grade vocabulary and grammar to make sure your visitors can quickly and easily understand your message.
• Work and rework the text of your blog post: Limit the distractions and use your favorite text editor to make sure your write up is perfect before you even think about publishing it.
• Post title: The post title will also be displayed on the Google search results. Use a catchy title that will get the reader’s attention and convince them to go to your post. Make sure your title contains your most important keyword.
• Post Highlights: On top, use bold characters to create a summary that tells your readers what the post is all about and convince them to read more. Include a reference about the author and a link to your website (Google likes incoming links).
• Use of picture(s): Appropriate visual elements will make your blog post look good and help reinforce the concepts you are trying to drive. Don’t copy pictures from the internet. This is illegal and some unscrupulous companies make a business at finding and fining violators. Use your own picture or purchase a stock photo.
• Post wrap up: At the end, summarize your blog post and politely inviting the readers to contact you for more details, information, or help.
• Mobile considerations: Mobile devices can only display a few characters per line. Remove un-necessary spaces after paragraphs and use a single space after sentences to minimize unnecessary line changes in the mobile version of your post.

CREATE WEEBLY BLOG POST
Weebly is the perfect small business website design tool. Here is how to create a blog post with Weebly.
 
Web browser consideration: When working with Weebly, I use Google Chrome because it includes a default “Paste as plain text” option that removes the original formatting when cutting and pasting. This feature eliminates double text formatting errors that are sometimes difficult to detect.
 
Create new post: Go to your blog page and click the “New Post” at the bottom right.
 
Build your post: Enter your post title, text, and picture(s) as described earlier.
 
Google optimize your picture:

• Google likes links so create a link from your picture to a page of your website.
• Reuse some elements of your post title and take advantage of the picture CAPTION and ALT TEXT tools to help Google understand what your post is all about. Make sure the CAPTION and ALT TEXT contain your most important keyword.

 
Google optimize your post:

• At the bottom left, click POST OPTIONS
• Assign one or more category to your post. Use categories that contain your most important keyword.
• Reuse some elements of your post title and create a permalink (URL) that contains your most important keyword. Separate words with a dash (-) character to make the URL easy to read. “Blog-post-cost-effective-small-business-website-promotion-technique” is an example.
• Reuse some elements of your post title and create a SEO post title that contains your most important keyword. (65 characters max)
• Reuse some elements of your post highlights and create a SEO post description that contains your most important keyword. (155 characters max)

 

• Publish your blog post:
• As part of the publishing process, Weebly offers the option to automatically include a note on your Facebook and Twitter accounts so your followers know about your new post are invited to read it. This is an awesome feature, take advantage of it.
• Once published, verify that your blog post looks good on a computer and on a mobile device.
• Make sure there are no errors and that all links are functional.
• Bingo you are done

​Periodically publishing a blog post is an easy and cost-effective way to promote a small business website. Writing for the web is a delicate balance between creating persuasive content that is also easy for Google to categorize. Our experienced blog post writers know how to craft a message that will impress Google and your visitors. For help or more information, call us at (920) 850-4642 or fill in this contact us form, we would be happy to help.​

Google changes the rules all the time and your competitors work hard to get on top of the search results. If you don’t do anything you get behind. Most of the SEO & website promotion activities listed below can be implemented easily and for free.

1. Refresh your website: You offer new products or services? You expanded your territory? You have new staff? The sun is shining? Let the world know about what is new and exciting about your small business.
2. Take advantage of the new Google My Business (GMB) tools: Refresh or touchup your GMB listing to remind Google and your potential customers that your small business is alive and kicking. GMB recently released a bunch of new tools, take advantage of them!
3. Create a mailing list: Get leads to potential customers by creating a mailing list. People opting in for your mailing list are obviously interested to hear from your small business. Increase your sales by giving them what they want.
4. Create a new write up or blog post like this one: If you already have a mailing list, a blog, or a Facebook account, write something up and get in touch with those potential customers. It does not have to be complicated, reuse write ups from promotional documents or customer service emails you already have.
5. Join the modern age and create a video of your business: Post it to your website, YouTube, Facebook, and to your Google My Business (GMB) listing.
6. Review your search terms: Things change all the time on the internet. Make sure your main search terms are still the right ones for your small business.
7. Check your Google rankings: Do it yourself or get help from your webmaster. Your competitors constantly change their website. If you don’t, they will rank on top of yours and get your customers.
8. Get a mobile website: You don’t have a mobile website? Where have you been? Everybody is browsing the web with tablets and cell phones these days. Get mobile and advertise your business where your potential customers will find it.
9. Get Listed: Consumers can’t buy from a business they can’t find. Getting citations from the top directories and data aggregators is affordable and necessary for your small business to rank on top of the Google search results.
10. Review your reviews: Most customers look at online reviews before making a purchase. Check your reviews every week and try to understand why you got negative reviews. Customer service is everything. Politely reach out to people that left negative reviews and see what you can do to make them happy or even to change their review.

Continuous improvement is the least expensive way to maintain your small business website on top of the Google search results.  For help or more information, call us at (920) 850-4642 or fill in this contact us form. Talk is cheap, we will get back to you promptly.

The following link will take you to an outstanding article that explains how to respond to negative online reviews. This article will show you how to turn negative reviews into positive reviews. It will also show you how to take advantage of those negative reviews to show other potential customers how important customer satisfaction is to your business.

Usually I write my own blog posts but this article is so well done, there is not much I could have add to it so here it is at https://www.brightlocal.com/2017/08/23/how-to-respond-to-negative-reviews/.

Monitor Online Reviews
Quickly responding to negative reviews is of prime importance but there are so many online review sites that it is very difficult and time consuming to monitor all online reviews. We can automate this process, so you receive an email identifying your new online reviews on a weekly basis. For more information call us at (920) 850-4642 or fill in this contact us from and we will get back to you promptly. 

​Gone are the days where having a website was the only thing small business owners had to do to drive customers to their doorsteps. Every business has a website these days and competition is fierce for the top of the Google search results. Here is what you and your Web Master should focus on:

1 - Google My Business Signals (Proximity, categories, keyword in business title, etc.) 19%
In addition to be the most important search ranking factor, your Google My Business (GMB) listing is an excellent way to connect online with potential customers. Setting up GMB is free and easy. Once your GMB account is setup, take advantage of the GMB posts to advertise for special events and promotions.

2 - Link Signals (Inbound anchor text, linking domain authority, linking domain quantity, etc.) 17%
For Google, links are like votes at a popularity contest. Websites that get many links, especially from important websites, must be good and deserve to rank high on the Google search results. Trade reciprocal links with your supplier, customers, or other noncompetitive businesses. Get links from your local chamber of commerce or local organizations you sponsor or are part of. Participate to blogs or publish newsletter with a link back to your website. Tell the world about your website and get linked!

3 - On-Page Signals (Presence of NAP, keywords in titles, domain authority, etc.) 14%
Writing for the web is a delicate balance between creating persuasive content that is also easy for Google to categorize. Give Google a chance to understand what goods and services you offer, who are your customers, where is your business located and how to contact you. Your webmaster does not know your business. Work and rework the text of your pages, then let your webmaster take care of the technical details.

4 - Citation Signals (IYP/aggregator NAP consistency, citation volume, etc.) 13%
Before the Internet, people used printed directories like the Yellow Pages to find information about a business. Citations are the modern equivalents of the Yellow pages. They are electronic directories that publish your business name, address, phone number, etc. Many citations directories will list your business for free but manual submitting is a tedious and time-consuming process.

5 - Review Signals (Review quantity, review velocity, review diversity, etc.) 13%
Google uses online reviews to determine the reputation of a business. Reputable businesses rank higher on the Google search results. Getting positive reviews from satisfied customers is easier said than done. Convincing an unhappy customer to change a negative review is even harder. Get help from specialized consultants. Focus on the top review sites that are Google My Business, Facebook, Amazon, Yelp, trip Advisor, Yellow Pages, BBB, Manta, Angie’s List, and Foursquare.

6 - Behavioral Signals (Click-through rate, mobile clicks to call, check-ins, etc.) 10%
Google uses statistical info about your visitors to determine how well your website meets their needs. Websites that get attention from visitors rank higher on the Google search results. Make sure your content is interesting and well organized, so your visitors quickly find what they look for and come back to your website. Having fresh content, creating periodic promotions or creating a blog are good ways to convince visitors to come back to your website.

7 - Personalization 10%
Websites with original content rank higher on the Google search results. Do not copy from you’re your competitors. Come up with your own text and do better. Writing for the web is not easy for most small business owners that are business people, not writers. Consider professional writing services.

8 - Social Signals (Google engagement, Facebook engagement, Twitter engagement, etc.) 4%
Interestingly, participation to the social medias ranks last on the top Google ranking factors. This means that, for most small businesses, social medias should be used with moderation and after work on other factors has been completed.

Alco Web Design LLC
Having a website is pointless if nobody finds it. We take SEO seriously and strive to deliver consistent and sustainable traffic to your virtual doorsteps. Let our web designers and SEO experts turn your website into a cost-effective marketing tool. For more information call us at (920) 850-4642 or fill in this contact us from and we will get back to you promptly.

Alco Web Design provides web redesign services to small business owners from different industries. We focus on analyzing your website and recommending the changes that will ensure it does its job of converting traffic into emails, phone calls, or walk-ins.  We have the expertise to look at every aspect of your website to identify what does or doesn’t work.

​User Experience
It is important to ensure your website looks good and is easy to use on various mobile platforms. Our websites are Google friendly, mobile ready, and they look great. 

Engaging and Relevant Content
Writing for the web is a delicate balance between creating persuasive content that is also easy for Google to categorize. Our experienced website content writers know how to craft a message that will impress Google and your visitors.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Having a website is pointless if nobody finds it. SEO is the art of bringing your website on top of the Google search results, so it can be found by potential customers. We take SEO seriously and strive to deliver consistent and sustainable traffic to your virtual doorsteps.

Local Business Listings - Citations Building
Before the Internet, people used printed directories like the Yellow Pages to find information about a business. Citations are electronic directories that include your business name, address, phone number, etc. They are one of the most important ranking factors for local search results.

Website Authority
The authority of your website plays a big part in how high your business ranks in search engine results. We analyze how well you do compared to your competitors and give you tips about increasing your website authority.

Social Reviews and Ratings
These days it is important to 'socialize' your business and get good reviews on the social medias. We examine your use of and popularity across different social medias and recommend changes that will convince Google and your visitors about the seriousness of your business.

We at Alco Web Design LLC can provide excellent web redesign services and turn your website in a cost-effective marketing tool. For more information call us at (920) 850-4642 or fill in this contact us from and we will get back to you promptly.

Regardless of the size of your business and industry you operate in, it is important to have a solid online presence; and one of the most important components of this online presence is your company website.

Contact information should feature on every page
Studies have proved that a large percentage of visitors that look for your website do so to find your address and contact number. This makes it important to include your contact details on every page. Not only will it become easier for visitors to locate this information, but it will improve your local ranking too.

Include geographically-targeted keywords (including geographical info)
If you want to rank higher on the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), you will need to conduct some research on what the targeted local keywords are. These long-tailed keywords should be included in all your on-page content, blog content as well as service descriptions. 

Ensure your site has customer testimonials and that there are online reviews
Almost 80% of customers read online reviews before they purchase a product or service. This makes it important for you to have plenty of online reviews and testimonials. While you can’t compel customers to write these, you can always encourage them and request them to write a review if they are happy with your services. This gives prospective customers the assurance that they are dealing with a credible company and they will be keener to do business with you.

Keep your blog updated
Just as it is important to have a blog on your website, it is crucial that you keep the content fresh and updated. When you post relevant and engaging content online, it tells customers they are dealing with a knowledgeable company that is serious about its business and that helps increase sales. Aside from this, blogging also helps boost your ranking on the SERPs. All your blogs are pages that will be indexed by Google; over a period of time this becomes a large amount of content on your website and is something Google takes into consideration.

Include images and other visuals
Make sure that you mix the content on your website with good quality, relevant and interesting visuals. These could be in the form of images, videos, and infographics etc. Not only does this break the monotony of reading text, but improves the appearance of your website as well. 

You need a knowledgeable and experienced web designing company to handle small business website design. We at Alco Web Design LLC can provide custom Local SEO solutions for your small business; please call us on 920 8504642 or fill in this contact us from and we will get back to you promptly.

​Every business owner knows exactly how important it is to have a user-friendly website that showcases relevant information, looks great and functions well. While all of these are very important aspects of building a website, it’s crucial to optimize your site properly too. Local sales are important to small business owners. Using the right kind of SEO techniques will help ensure it get the visibility needed to attract the right customers and improve conversion rates.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial in building brand awareness for your company or business. This is because online users are more likely to trust sites that are amongst the top 10 on the SERPs (search engine results pages) than brands that aren’t.

What is local SEO?
Local SEO is a very specific and effective method of online marketing that gives small businesses the chance to promote their services and products to a niche, local audience. When you use Local SEO, local business directories such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, and Google Local will send local customers to your website.

Local SEO promotes your business’ name, address, phone number, as well as the products and services YOU offer, and not just your website. Including Local SEO in your overall marketing strategy can help you reach local customers that are more inclined to purchase your products and services.

The benefits of Local SEO 

• Regardless of the size/type of your local business, a targeted approach towards web traffic can increase your overall sales. The right techniques will help you reach customers when they’re actually ready to buy.
• While it’s important to have higher traffic numbers, they don’t necessarily always bring in more sales. It’s crucial to learn more about your site visitors’ location, their marketing preferences, and interests. A well-planned Local SEO strategy can help a business understand what types of strategies rivals use and how to use a customized approach suited to their business.
• When the right users are targeted, you will automatically find there is a rise in conversions. Local SEO will help your businesses target the right visitors so you benefit from long-term sales success.
• You should conduct some research on the competition. Begin by thinking of your site’s commonest search terms; these will give you an idea of which other businesses are implementing similar online marketing strategies. It might seem like a monumental task to compete against larger companies, but local searches are far less competitive.

By using the right Local SEO strategy, you have every chance to establish yourself locally. We at Alco Web Design LLC can provide custom Local SEO solutions for your small business; please call us on 920 850-4642 or fill in this contact us from and we will get back to you promptly.

Website Footer
Your business name, address, and phone number should appear on the footer of each of your pages. In addition to tell Google about your physical location, it makes it easy for potential customers to contact you. If you serve multiple cities, you could identify the top 3-4 cities in a statement like “Proudly serving the Green Bay, Oshkosh, Appleton, and surrounding communities”.

About Us Page
The main purpose of the About Us page is to tell your visitors about yourself and your business. It is also a great place to add physical locations you’re trying to rank for. For instance, “I create websites for small-business owners in the Appleton Fox Valley”.

Testimonials Page
The main purpose of the Testimonials page is to help build trust with potential customers. But including the customer’s physical location also tells Google about your operating area. Use the same concept for your Facebook, Yelp, and Google My Business pages.

Multiple Location Pages
If your business operates from multiple locations, create separate pages for each location and include localized content on those pages such as address, phone numbers, hours of operation, etc.. But also take the time to include references to community involvement activities, support for local non-profit organization, local events or partnerships you might be part of.

FAQ Page
Creating FAQ pages on your site is also a great opportunity to add local content and references while answering questions from your potential customers. Where are you located, who are your customers, etc.

Contact Us Page
Having a Google Map on your contact us page makes it easy for Google to verify your physical location.
 
Summary
If you expect your website to be found by local customers, it must include pointers about your physical location and the area you operate in. Don’t overdo it but sprinkle geographical pointers throughout your website wherever it makes sense for your visitors.

You got a website that brings little or no business? Alco Web Design specializes in SEO services for small business owners of the Appleton Fox Valley area. We are there to help, contact us or call us at (920) 850-4642. We will get back to you promptly.

I was recently asked to setup GMB listings for a small business that operates from two different physical locations. The last thing you want is to confuse Google and I had to figure out how to do it right. Here is what I found:

• GMB listings relate entirely to physical locations. So, if you have 2 physical locations, you are eligible for 2 GMB listings.
• Each business location can have the exact same name without the need for a modifier (like city). Use the business name exactly as it appears in the real world for both listings (Joe’s garage).
• Each business location MUST be assigned a unique phone number because Google wants the number you list to connect directly to the location.
• Each business location should have its own landing page on the business website. Location landing pages represent very powerful opportunities to target specific users. Make the content unique and include the name, address and phone number of the business location at the top of its respective landing page.
• Business citations, including GMB listings, should be specific for each business location with unique phone numbers, addresses, and landing pages. 
• For more details about how to create the perfect Google My Business listings, visit https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en

As you can see, creating multiple GMB listings is easy but doing it right requires a fair amount of overhead, especially if it involves managing hundreds of citations. Conventional land internet marketing is all about maximizing results and minimizing efforts. There is nothing wrong with having multiple GMB listings but it should be done only when lower hanging fruits have been picked.

You got a website that brings little or no business? Alco Web Design specializes in internet marketing services for small business owners of the Appleton Fox Valley area. We are there to help, contact us or call us at (920) 850-4642. We will get back to you promptly.

DO THE HARD WORK FIRST

• Identify the potential Google search terms for your business. Don’t think only about the goods and services you are offering but also about your customer’s needs. If you are chiropractor, sport injuries might be a good search term. There are free keywords generator tools on the internet, use them.
• Rank the potential search terms based on the relevancy to your business, how often they are used on Google, and how many websites you compete against. There are free keywords ranking tools on the internet, use them.
• Group your best potential search terms by themes and come up with the 2-4 top themes you want to target with your website. Your website will have one GOODS & SERVICES page for each of those themes.

TEXT FOR THE IMPORTANT PAGES

• Websites don’t get Google’s attention, web pages do. You heard it before, content is king and Google looks for pages with original, meaningful, and well organized content. This content is usually found in the GOODS & SERVICES pages of your website.
• Write the textual content for each GOODS & SERVICES page, one page for each theme. The purpose of these pages is to describe the goods and service you offer and to convince the readers that you offer the best value proposal.
• Take it easy on the text, you are not writing a book. Use simple words, short sentences, and short paragraphs. 5th grade English will do the trick.
• The text of your GOODS & SERVICES pages will make or break the success of your website. The text should be user friendly, interesting, and inviting.
• Make sure the top search terms for each theme come naturally throughout the text. If paragraphs don’t contain your top search terms they probably don’t belong to that page. 
• Coming up with the right text for your GOODS & SERVICES pages is easier said than done. Work and rework the text of those pages. Getting help from a professional writer might be a smart investment.
• No matter how good they are, your webmaster or website writer knows very little about your business. Get involved with this critical step of the process.

TEXT FOR THE OTHER PAGES

• Your ABOUT US page should convince your visitors that you know what you do, are trustworthy, and bring value. Be personal, be human, be humble, but don’t be bashful. Include your name, address, picture. Talk about the community activities you are involved with, honors you received, your expertise, your company, and what you bring to the table.
• Your HOME page should summarize the goods and services you offer, who are your typical customers, and what kind of company you are. Save some time by reusing some of the text on the ABOUT US and GOODS & SERVICES pages.
• Your CONTACT US page should let your visitors know your operating hours, where is your business, and how to contact you.
• Your TESTIMONIALS, GUARANTEE and other pages should support the message of expertise, honesty, and value that will convince your visitors to contact you.

CREATE YOUR WEBPAGES

• Create your web pages. Use a modern Google friendly and mobile compliant programming tool. I strongly recommend Weebly that is very easy to use and powerful enough to meet the needs of most small business owners. Keep things simple but be creative. Use images and logos to stand out but be careful not take your visitors away from your content.
• Create the sitemap, install the Google Analytics tracking code and setup the Google WebMaster tools. Publish your website and submit it to the major search engines. This is specialized work, seek professional web design help as needed.

OPTIMIZE EACH OF YOUR WEB PAGES (ON-PAGE SEO)

• Google will look for the presence of your keywords in specific visible and invisible areas of your web pages that have to be individually optimized. Optimize each page individually. Textual content and layout changes are to be expected during this step. There are lots of things to look at and specialized tools to facilitate this process. Seek professional on-page SEO help as needed.

MARKET YOUR WEBSITE (OFF-PAGE SEO)

• Internet marketing are promotional activities designed to convince the search engines about the seriousness of an existing website. Since it does not involve modifying your website, internet marketing is often called off-page SEO. There are lots of things to look at and specialized tools to facilitate this process. Seek professional off-page SEO help as needed.
• Setup a Google Local and Bing local account for your business and get reviews from your satisfied customers.
• Exchange links with complementary non-competitive businesses.
• Get listed in key local directories such as yellow pages, Yelp, and others. There are hundreds of them and some of them are specialized by sector (dentists is an example).
• Create Facebook and Twitter accounts and be active in the social medias community, especially if your customers are social media addicted.
• Invest on pay-per-click ad campaigns such as Google AdWords and Facebook
• Create and post YouTube videos.

WORK AND RE-WORK YOUR WEBSITE

• Your competitors always tweak their websites, especially if they see your website on top of theirs on the google search results. If you don’t get ahead of them you will get behind. Don’t think you will ever be done working and re-working yours.

WALK TO THE BANK WITH A SMILE

• There is no magic trick, it is all about knowledge, dedication, and hard work.
• There is no doubt in my mind that if you follow these steps seriously your website will bring customers and will become a cost-effective marketing tool for your business.

We are there to help, contact us or call us at (920) 850-4642. We will get back to you promptly. 

Search engines are getting increasingly sophisticated. In their effort to deliver the most informative and relevant search results, the algorithms look at multiple sources to gauge the legitimacy and the authority of a particular website. These sources include Google+, Yelp, Yellow Pages, and other such business directories. 

If your business is listed on such high-authority networks, the search engine algorithm would trust your website and consider it legitimate enough to be displayed on organic local searches. 

What are Citations?
Before the Internet exploded onto the scene, people used to manually browse through a directory like Yellow Pages to find a business and its contact information. That piece of information is known as a citation. With the internet, citations are listings of your business name, address, and information in electronic directories. 

Now, users just need to type some words on the search bar and they can get results in a fraction of a second. They don’t need to browse through bulky directories as the search engines would give them all the information they need. But where do search engines get their information from? 

Some of that information comes from citations in local online directories. Just like we’ve grown to incorporate the Internet into our lives, our directories have as well. Today, we have the White Pages, Yellow Pages, Yelp, Google +, and other such directories. They have business names, contact information, and perhaps even ratings and reviews. 

Why Do Citations Matter?
Like with the old yellow pages, citations increase your business’ visibility. The more citations you have, the more visible you are to the search engines. Businesses with several good quality citations often rank very high on search engine results page. In fact, it’s one of the most important ranking factors for local search. Having a citation in all local directories will place you on an even footing with big-name companies and allow you a fair share of the market. 

There are hundreds of citations sources to consider for your website. You just need to make sure that your citations are placed on reputable and high-authority websites. Search engines will consider the quality of the source when they determine how to rank your website. 

If you want more information about our citation building services, don’t hesitate to contact us, we will get back to you promptly.

​Google has a massive presence online and over the years, the company has grown from a simple search engine to an Internet giant that offers a wide range of services. They constantly introduce new upgrades and services at a rate that can make anyone’s head spin. Trying to keep up with the changes can be intimidating and exhausting. Fortunately, Google constantly tries to simplify its services and consolidate them as much as possible. 

Different Arms of Google
It’s important to be highly visible on Google, especially if you want to increase your rankings. However, for that you need to understand where you’re present on Google. Even if you’ve not provided any information about your business to the search engine, it’s likely you’ll still find information about it online, because Google takes information from various sources. You need to ensure that all of this information is consistent by looking into your online presence. 

• Google My Business – This is the control module and you can access most of the places where you’re present, via this portal. The setup is easy; all you need to do is log into My Business using your Google id. Once you find it, you should verify the address and claim the business as yours. You now have control over your business presence on Google. You can access Google+, Maps, and other such services through this portal. 
• Google Maps – Google Maps is one of the most important aspects of Local Search. Users often find local businesses on Maps and use the navigation option to reach it. It’s very important to keep your Maps data accurate. While you’re claiming your business, make sure that the pin is positioned properly. Misleading data can frustrate search users and compromise your reputation. 
• Local Search – The Google local 3-pack system places the three best results from local search at the top of the local search engine results. The locations of these results are also displayed on Google Maps. Business that are placed in the local 3-pack enjoy very high visibility and foot traffic. 

As you might have already concluded, these three arms of Google can help small business website owners, allowing them to compete with big names companies and increase their revenue.

If you want more information on Google or our services, don’t hesitate to contact us at Alco Web Design LLC, we will get back to you promptly.

​Most people that are looking for a product or service will end up conducting an online search. They will look at multiple sites that provide that product or service and zero in on one that matches their requirements. Not only do they look at the specifications and description of a product; they also want to ensure the site they are purchasing the product from is a credible company.

​By Alain Houle, Alco Web Design LLC

​They ascertain this by looking at what the position of the website is on the SERP (search engine results page). You will rarely find users moving onto the second page of the search results. So when there are so many biggies out there with established companies working on their marketing strategies, how can the small businesses keep up?​

Some strategies
The good news is that it’s possible even for small businesses to reach that coveted position on the SERP; they can do this by focusing on building website authority. Take a look at a few things that can be done easily:

• Carve a niche- This is very important; if you deal in multiple services or product niches, your marketing focus will also get diluted. The minute you pour more effort into just a few select keywords, your visibility on search engines will increase.
• Long-tail keyword strategy- These are nothing but longer phrases that incorporate your keywords. Statistics prove that long tail keywords help improve ranking- they may bring in less traffic than smaller and more keywords, but the traffic will be more specific to your business. 
• Local SEO- If you are a small business, its best to focus on Local SEO and target a local audience rather than aim for national or global visibility. The latter two won’t bring in business and won’t add to your authority either.
• Focus on inbound links- Use local specific keywords, post press releases and work on increasing the number of inbound links to your site. These links should also come from other high authority sites in your specific industry. 
• Reviews – The other way to jump in rankings is to focus on cultivating very positive reviews from different customers. That doesn’t mean you solicit reviews or compensate customers for posting favorable reviews. However you can encourage them with occasional call outs via social media sites, or you can encourage reviews using Yelp stickers on your social networking profile. 
• Authority content publisher- When you want to build credibility, trust, loyalty and awareness, the one way to do that is to frequently publish quality content. Build your on-site blog and distribute videos, podcasts, webinars and ebooks etc via various channels.

When you are consistent with your brand building strategy, you will automatically become a dependable authority in your field. For more information about how you can build authority for your business website, and for comprehensive web design solutions, contact Alco Web Design via email; we will respond promptly.

​In competitive environments, even well designed and well optimized websites have difficulties to stand out and draw their share of visitors. Internet marketing are promotional activities designed to bring potential customers to a website. Here is list of them, please visit our internet marketing page for more details.

​By Alain Houle, Alco Web Design LLC

​Tell the world about your website: Tell your suppliers, customers, colleagues, partners, friends, family, baby sitters, church members, etc. and invite them to visit your website. Give them an incentive by offering an on-line coupon or some information only available on your website.

Conventional advertising techniques: Your website name should appear on every email message you send, business card, letter heads, invoices, yellow pages, promotional items, advertisement flyer, etc. Radio & TV ads, they still work, use them!

Get linked: Ask your suppliers, customers, partners, chamber of commerce, business associations, town hall, local paper, non-competitive businesses, etc. for links to your website. Figure out who links to your competitors and request links to your website. Grease the skid by offering a reciprocal link.

Give a reason to your visitors to come back to your website: Periodically change content, offer sales and promotions, create on-line only promotional items, etc. Publish a blog and send newsletters or periodic emails with links back to your website.

Facebook: I hate Facebook but with 1 billion accounts, Facebook is a force to be recognized. Create a Facebook page and periodically post new information inviting people to visit your website. Once again, give them an incentive by offering an on-line coupon or some information only available on your website. Consider doing the same for Twitter.

YouTube: Create video(s) about your company, post them online and invite viewers to visit your website. YouTube is owned by Google that will reward you for your effort. Create a YouTube channel and group all your videos so they are easy to find.

Local listings: Remember the old Yellow Pages phone book? Many websites offer an electronic version of the Yellow Pages and will gladly list your website for free. Local listings are a must for many small businesses that rely heavily on local sales. Google My Business, Bing Places, and Yahoo Local are the most important and a good place to start. There are many other local listings, prioritize your efforts.

Get reviews and positive feedback: Ask your satisfied customers to post on-line reviews on Facebook, Google Maps, Bing Places, and Yahoo Local. Grease the skid by providing them with incentive such as a coupon, discount, or gift card.

For more details please visit our SEO Internet Marketing page.